Lando Norris Edges Nearer to Title as Max Verstappen Secures Las Vegas Grand Prix Win

The McLaren Lando Norris moved closer to his first world title with second place in the Vegas race following the Red Bull of Max Verstappen

The British driver currently heads fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who ended up fourth behind Mercedes' George Russell, by 30 points heading to the penultimate race in Qatar next weekend

The Briton will claim the title in the desert as long as he doesn't surrender over five points to Piastri in Losail, or seventeen to Verstappen

Piastri, so impressive in the opening stages of the championship, has not finished on the top three for six consecutive events

"Max had a good race. I erred at the beginning and was overly aggressive on that first turn," stated Norris

"It remains a good result to secure second. I've got to congratulate Verstappen and his team"

After Qatar, the last event of the season follows in Abu Dhabi on December 7th

The key stories of one of Formula 1's most high-profile races included:

• Lando Norris continued his progress towards the championship losing the victory to Max Verstappen

• Piastri's difficult run of form persisted as his championship chances diminish

• A superb win for Verstappen to maintain him in the championship battle

• Fightbacks for the two Ferrari drivers, after a tough qualifying session, with Lewis Hamilton securing a point for tenth place following starting at the back

At the start, Lando Norris was faithful to his claim that he was "not present not to take risks" as he battled aggressively to defend his lead from starting first from Verstappen

However following an aggressive cut in front of Verstappen to head off the Dutchman's challenge on the inside, the McLaren driver misjudged his braking zone and ran deep into the turn

This allowed Max Verstappen to overtake into the lead while Norris also second place to Russell

During two virtual safety cars for some early incidents, featuring at the beginning when Racing Bulls' Liam Lawson made contact with Piastri, Max Verstappen gradually stamped his authority on the event

Russell made an early pit stop for the more durable compound, but Norris and Verstappen stayed out

Norris stopped five circuits following the Mercedes driver and Max Verstappen 10

Verstappen was could rejoin still in the first place, George Russell having been failed to close in on the Red Bull car even with his newer rubber

Lando Norris returned after George Russell from his pit stop but following a few cautious laps to let his tires to warm up, soon reduced his three-point-three second deficit to the Mercedes and swept by into second place on the thirty-fourth lap

The British driver asked his race engineer how to run the rest of his race, essentially questioning whether he should accept second place or attack

He was told to "chase down Verstappen" but it quickly became apparent he had no chance. Verstappen was readily could repel Lando's challenges, and in the closing stages the gap increased substantially as the McLaren car started to experience a technical issue which has so far remained unidentified

Even with dropping almost three seconds a lap, Lando Norris was could defend against George Russell because of the extent of the lead he had built while pursuing Max Verstappen

The Red Bull driver's sixth victory of the season - just one behind the two McLaren teammates - was taken in dominant fashion and maintains him in title contention, at least mathematically, although he needs issues for Lando Norris in the final two events to pass him

"It remains a big gap, we always try to maximise everything we've got," Verstappen stated

"During the coming events we will try to take victory in the event and by the conclusion of Abu Dhabi we will see where we finish, but I'm extremely pleased of the entire team"

Oscar Piastri started fifth but dropped two places on the opening lap following being hit by Lawson, who was quickly taken out of the battle by a broken nose section

He trailed Lawson's teammate Isack Hadjar for the first 15 laps before passing him on the Strip but also out to Charles Leclerc, who he was able to repass during the tire change phase

Piastri ended up after the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who ran nearly the whole event on hard tyres after pitting during the first virtual safety car, but was awarded a five-second time penalty for a starting procedure violation, which was not immediately obvious on video reviews

"It proved to be a disappointing event from pretty much beginning to end in some ways," Oscar Piastri informed BBC Radio 5 Live

Asked about how he would tackle the final two races, he commented: "Simply attempt to position myself in the optimal situation I can. I obviously need several of factors to favor me now to win, but my only option is ensure I'm in the best position to take advantage if something happens"

Charles Leclerc held on in sixth place, insufficiently close to benefit from Kimi Antonelli's penalty, while Carlos Sainz fell to seventh place at the finish, his Williams missing the speed to challenge with the top teams in the dry conditions, following his impressive performance to qualify in third in the wet

Hadjar took eighth before Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton

The seven-time champion executed a flying start, rising to 13th on the opening circuit and proceeded to move forwards

He became trapped in a DRS train with a group of additional vehicles but was able to use his strong beginning to rescue a point following the worst qualifying session of his racing life